January 2019 Community Update

The Skycoin project kicked off 2019 with solid fundamental development and community growth. Progress on the ‘triple mainnet’ (as coined by Synth) of Skywire, CX and Obelisk is on track as per the Skycoin 2019 roadmap.

Skywire

The number of nodes on Skywire tesnet approaches 10,000 and Skywire is now competing with Bitcoin for the largest number of distinct computing nodes running the respective distributed networking software. Joining Skywire at this late stage of testnet is encouraged, as you will still earn network rewards until mainnet bandwidth metering is activated.

A new testnet whitelisting procedure has been established to streamline onboarding of new DIY and Official Skyminers. There are two different websites to access:

auth.skycoin.net — everyone using the system must first create a user account at this site for account creation, confirmation and password change

CX

The next version of the CX programming language (V0.6) was released in late January, and can be accessed from Github. This release incorporates a host of upgrades, building towards CX integration with the Skycoin blockchain. Blockchain integration will eventually allow Skycoin Fiber chains to run decentralized exchanges (DEXs) and blockchain-based games like online poker, all written in CX.

‘So in the next step of the Sky development, you will be able to store a CX program on a blockchain (a chain on Fiber) and store the state of it also on the chain. The next time the program is started, the state will be read from the chain, and continued from where it left off, run for a while, providing a service of some kind, and then the new state will be put back into a new block. This is similar to what is called a smart contract on other blockchains.’

In addition to the CX programming language, there was further development on scripting in Skycoin with the release of PySkycoin. PySkycoin adds a scripting layer on top of the core Skycoin APIs, making it possible to use Python tools to build applications powered by the Skycoin blockchain. PySkycoin augments the development capabilities of CX, allowing the greatest accessibility to developers looking to build on top of Skycoin. Access PySkycoin here.

Obelisk

More details on the function of Obelisk were released this month, and can be read in this article. Currently, Skycoin block minting is performed by a protected masternode, as the network is still in developmental state. Upon the implementation of Skywire mainnet and widespread uptake of the Skyminer, the hardware network will be in place for Skycoin to have the most robustly decentralized cryptocurrency network of hardware nodes.

Wallets

Work has commenced on Skycoin integration for the Ledger Nano brand of cryptocurrency wallets. The public Github repository can be found here. We believe secure coin storage is essential for widespread adoption of Skycoin, and we are working hard to provide hardware wallet storage for your Skycoin on our own Skywallet hardware as well as 3rd-party devices.

Hardware

Hardware store

The launch of the online hardware store was a significant step in rolling-out the physical infrastructure of Skycoin and Skywire.

Official Skyminers

Official Skyminers can now be purchased directly from the store and shipped anywhere in the world. Official Skyminers receive a special network bootstrapping reward of 1/24th the Skyminer cost in price equivalent Skycoin for 2 years. This amount can be claimed for 3 years.

Skywallets

The first Skywallets were shipped to winners of last month’s Find the Cats competition. Many have posted photos and videos of the unboxing.

First competition winners share pictures of their hardware wallets

Skyfleet member unboxing his new hardware wallet

Skywallets will soon be available for purchase through the hardware store, we are currently putting the final touches on firmware for the devices. We have big plans for Skycoin hardware in 2019, so stay tuned for further updates!

Synth Speaks

Synth did a number of interviews in January. There was an excellent discussion with Larry and Joe, who previously interviewed John McAfee and community leader MacSkyver. They cover all the key components of the project and finish with some thoughts on the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto. There was also an interview with one of Skycoin’s strongest Australian supporters, Dave Haslop of CryptoDen, and a short interview with CryptoArmy.

Official Synth Speaks videos were released as well. In Obelisk Consensus Protocol Synth explains why Obelisk is superior to Proof-of-Stake and delegated Proof-of-Stake. In Skywire and the Mesh Network Infrastructure he explains the role of the Skywire Mesh network as the key to unlocking the last mile problem of high speed bandwidth to the premises.

Coin exchange listings

January saw Skycoin listings on on Lbank (SKY/BTC trading pair) and FineBox. Lbank is the 12th largest exchange by adjusted market capitalization on CoinMarketCap. Finebox is offering both SKY/BTC and SKY/DOGE pairs for trading.

Official articles

Obelisk previewed more features of Skycoin’s new consensus algorithm to be deployed when the Skywire mainnet is active and running.

We, the Skyfleet announced the second batch of official Skyminers and the vision of a decentralized, uncensored internet that it aims to facilitate.

‘The Skyminer is a hardware tool for sovereign individuals to defend internet privacy of the people in an age of data leaks, corporate exploitation and government surveillance. Each Skyminer contains 8 computing boards that forward encrypted packets on the new private internet called Skywire.’

Mentions/Reviews

Skycoin continues to infiltrate into many corners of the web. Skycoin’s development progress was recognized with a top 10 position on Coincodecap, which measures Github, analogous to CoinMarketCap. Fox News began inadvertently guerilla marketing Skycoin with this image of John McAfee sitting behind an official Skyminer.

Community articles

January was a massive month for Skyfleet engagement and this was evidenced by the number of high quality community articles that were released.

ChristianOtt, celebrated the one year anniversary of his first Skycoin article with an open letter to the community and a brand new homepage. Congratulations Christian! The community thanks you for your hard work and high quality content.

MacSkyver released an fantastic 17-minute read, titled Should You Invest in Skycoin? This article is a great overview of the key points of the project and answers many of the questions that newcomers ask. Essential reading!

Skyfleet News

Twitter

The Skyfleet presence on Twitter is growing daily. Marshalled by Casino and Caribou, you all are doing fantastic work spreading awareness of Skycoin. When replying to tweets, be sure to include a couple of sentences informing the public about Skycoin. Be sure to also include a Skycoin infographic, meme, medium article or Synth speaks clip. Shoutout to NotMacroBusiness and Tzezcozhik for their efforts on this front.

Wiki

We always need eager volunteers to contribute to the Skycoin Wiki. If you have a good understanding of the Skycoin project, go to skycoinwiki.com, apply to become a contributor and begin writing!

In other community news,

The first brick and mortar shop to accept Skycoin is a ladies clothing boutique in the Netherlands. Thanks to Sofria W for promoting Skycoin as a medium of exchange. Fantastic work, keep it up!

Physical Skycoins have been restocked by the fantastic folks at Skycoin Collectable Coins. Check out some of the gold and silver Skycoins and other awesome products. Join the telegram group for the latest info.

The Skyfiber Gazette, which indexes and aggregates Skycoin articles and news, was launched recently.

Skycoin memes are now available on Instagram for your viewing pleasure @skycoin_memefleet. Tag #skycoinmemes to be featured on the page!

Telegram news

The Skycoin Sticker Blast Telegram group was created to assist Skyfleet with visual awareness campaigns in their local cities. Thanks to Daken for his hard work. Once you receive your stickers, get busy and post your images here!

Sudo has opened expressions of interest for Skywire technician positions in the states of New York, Florida, Illinois, Oregon and Southern California in the USA. Skyfleet who are confident with assembly and software setup of Skyminers can contact Sudo on Sudo_tcpdump at protonmail.com

Meetups

There were photos of Skycoin meetups from January including Shenzen, China. If you are interested in hosting a Skycoin meetup, please Join the Meetups WorldWide Skycoin telegram group. There are links to presentation material, and you can discuss ideas with community manager Daken, as well as post photos of your successful meetup. The more Skycoin merchandise the better.

That’s everything from January 2019. The Skyfleet community is doing tremendous work building out the Skycoin ecosystem and raising awareness of the project. If you have been watching on the sidelines, now is a great time to write that Skycoin article, start that CX game or build that DIY Skyminer. Onwards and upwards Skyfleet!